Appeal No. 1998-2064
Application 08/710,551
female thread and an upper surface of the lower member, the
examiner considers that since the female nut 74 of Becker
abuts the lower housing member 10, “the logical place to
install such spring means is between the nut and the lower
member as required . . .” (final rejection, page 2). The
examiner further explains (answer, pages 4-5) that Markus is
only relied upon to show that one skilled in the art of
mechanical devices is aware that transmission elements can be
spring mounted in order to absorb shocks. In addition, the
examiner considers (answer, page 5) that one skilled in the
art would be apprised of the desirability of reducing shock
loads on the transmission elements of Becker by Becker’s
disclosure at column 6, lines 19-26. The examiner
characterizes this portion of Becker’s disclosure as teaching
that low-friction, high-torque nut 74 is used to minimize the
possibility that the threads of the spline shaft 26 might be
stripped under the high impact
driving forces generated by the actuating press. Thus, the
examiner concludes that the suggestion for making the
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